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<h1><a href="https://archiveofourown.org/works/29171574">whatever night may swallow you</a> by <a class='authorlink' href='https://archiveofourown.org/users/SEMellark/pseuds/SEMellark'>SEMellark</a></h1>

<table class="full">

<tr><td><b>Category:</b></td><td>Katekyou Hitman Reborn!</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Genre:</b></td><td>(of sorts), Alternate Universe - Canon Divergence, Flame Lore (Katekyou Hitman Reborn!), Hurt/Comfort, Italian Mafia, M/M, Mental Instability, Mild Blood, Queerplatonic Relationships, Sick Character, Sickfic</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Language:</b></td><td>English</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Status:</b></td><td>Completed</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Published:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Updated:</b></td><td>2021-02-03</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Packaged:</b></td><td>2021-05-13 12:00:14</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Rating:</b></td><td>Teen And Up Audiences</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Warnings:</b></td><td>No Archive Warnings Apply</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Chapters:</b></td><td>1</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Words:</b></td><td>2,900</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Publisher:</b></td><td>archiveofourown.org</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Story URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/works/29171574</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Author URL:</b></td><td>https://archiveofourown.org/users/SEMellark/pseuds/SEMellark</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Summary:</b></td><td><div class="userstuff">
              <p>When Tsuna is ravaged by the legacy of the Vongola, Kyouya awaits his return.</p>
            </div></td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Relationships:</b></td><td>Hibari Kyouya/Sawada Tsunayoshi</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Comments:</b></td><td>2</td></tr>

<tr><td><b>Kudos:</b></td><td>89</td></tr>

</table>

<a name="section0001"><h2>whatever night may swallow you</h2></a>
<div class="story"><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_head_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff">
      <p>idk what this is, I wanted a relationship study in these specific circumstances so I made one myself</p>
    </blockquote></div><div class="userstuff module">
    
    <p>Kyouya is in his office when Yamamoto comes knocking. The fact that he knocks at all immediately has Kyouya minimizing the documents he’d been pouring over on his computer, and by the time Yamamoto has stepped inside, Kyouya has already given him his full attention.</p><p>“What is it?” he asks, though judging by the expression on the other’s face, what he wants is rather obvious.</p><p>Very few things make Yamamoto quiet. He’s a lackluster version of his usual self as he stands in Kyouya’s doorway. His face and clothing are smeared in blood, and the collar of his button down is skewed, tie nowhere in sight. “We just got back,” Yamamoto says, and if he looks as if he’s about to cry, Kyouya says nothing about it. “Tsuna went straight to his room.”</p><p>“I see.” Kyouya stands, leaving his suit jacket strewn over the back of his chair as he rounds his desk. “Tell the others to stay away from the West Wing for a few hours. Go back to your room and lay down for a bit. Don’t forget to clean up. I’ll let you know if something changes.</p><p>Yamamoto nods, eyes glassy and slightly vacant as he leaves. He does better with clear and specific instructions in times like these, and Kyouya has no problem giving them. Kyouya follows Yamamoto out, turning to lock his office door. “Rokudo,” he says, loud enough to carry. There are taps all over the estate, but who even needs those when you have a nosy bastard of an illusionist for a coworker. “What else can you tell me?”</p><p><em>“Absolutely nothing.” </em>The day Rokudo decided everyone’s minds were free reign was one of Kyouya’s worst, but it’s annoyingly convenient in certain contexts. <em>“He shut me out. Before that, it was the usual. Heard voices, felt a little nauseous. Then it all went silent.”</em></p><p>Kyouya breathes out a long sigh as he heads for the West Wing. He hardly ever makes noise as he walks, but today, he keeps his steps purposefully audible for whoever might be listening. “You could’ve warned me a bit earlier.”</p><p><em>“I seem to remember you telling me not to bother you unless the estate was burning down,” </em>Rokudo’s tone is deceptively demure for being a disembodied voice in Kyouya’s head. <em>“Chrome and I are having lunch in the gardens. I figured you would have it handled.”</em></p><p>“I do,” Kyouya says in a partial snarl, wanting to claw the other man’s laughter out of his skull. “Go back to your lunch. So sorry for having disturbed you.”</p><p>There is only silence, and Kyouya pushes his irritation out of his mind as he makes his way over to Tsuna’s rooms. The large, gold encrusted door is shut, but it isn’t locked when Kyouya tries the handle. He lets himself in without a single call of greeting, stooping over to pick up the discarded articles of clothing before they can stain the carpet.</p><p>Much like Yamamoto’s, they’re covered in blood. Kyouya glances toward the bathroom, eyeing the strip of light underneath the closed door. The shower is running, so Kyouya takes his time as he tosses the soiled clothing into the hamper near the foot of the bed. He goes to the wardrobe next – a gift from Tsuna’s mother when they moved; it’s the only piece of furniture that doesn’t look as if it were commissioned by royalty – and pulls out a white t-shirt and a pair of shorts.</p><p><em>Keep it simple, </em>Dr. Shamal’s words ring in Kyouya’s mind. <em>You don’t know what state he’ll be in. Anything could set him off.</em></p><p>The shower shuts off as Kyouya is laying everything down on Tsuna’s bed, still perfectly made from the housekeepers’ rounds earlier in the morning. When the door opens, letting a thick cloud of steam into the room, Kyouya turns, having long since prepared himself for whatever he may find.</p><p>Tsuna comes into the room completely naked, save for the Sky Ring on his pointer finger, and Kyouya lets his eyes wander. He’s soft between his legs – that isn’t a given, in these situations – and the smile he offers when he catches Kyouya looking is detached, unfamiliar. The kind of smile you would offer a stranger. “Hibari-kun,” says Tsuna, and Kyouya fights to keep his expression neutral. “I should’ve known you’d come find me.”</p><p>“Don’t I always?” Kyouya replies as Tsuna brushes past him toward the bed. The other man barely glances at the clothing laid out on the bed as he opens the wardrobe and pulls out a plain, white button-down. Tsuna’s body is still wet as he shrugs it on, and Kyouya watches as the fabric dampens in various spots, clinging to Tsuna’s torso. “I hope you don’t mind if I ask who you are.”</p><p>Tsuna hums as his fingers work over the buttons. “I’m not entirely sure,” he says placidly. Sometimes the question makes him cry. Other times, he laughs. “There was a great deal of Secondo at first, though. I think he scared Yamamoto-kun.”</p><p>Kyouya doesn’t think the assessment quite encapsulates the state Yamamoto was in when he knocked on the office door. “Is my boss here at all?”</p><p>This time, the look and smile Kyouya receives is full of pity. “Poor thing,” Tsuna murmurs. “He fought very hard, but he overused his Flame in the end. Things got a little unstable, you know how it is.”</p><p>For all that Kyouya likes to think himself prepared for anything, Tsuna’s episodes are the one thing he understands very little. He can clearly recall the first time he saw Tsuna this deep into it, but apparently it had been happening to him for a long while before that. Perhaps since the very beginning.</p><p>It was after a particularly disturbing bust during Tsuna’s fourth year as head of the Vongola. It was a small affair, not something Tsuna would bother with usually, but he inserted himself into the situation knowing there were live victims involved. They’d pulled all sorts from that night club in Rome – men, women, even children of varying ages, all in distress and clearly having been sexually abused for a long time.</p><p>Kyouya had stayed behind even when Gokudera and Yamamoto excused themselves, even when Sasagawa stepped behind an SUV to empty his stomach. With everyone else occupied, he’d been the only witness to how Tsuna’s entire face <em>changed </em>right before he shot the owner of the nightclub point blank between the eyes.</p><p>It was the first time Tsuna had killed someone by his own hand, and in <em>public </em>no less, surrounded by witnesses. The cleanup had been a headache, but the real trouble began when Tsuna came back to himself hours later with no recollection of what he’d done. They’d flown back to Solerno earlier than planned just to have Tsuna seen by Dr. Shamal, but even then, it had taken them at least another year to really figure out just what was happening to Tsuna.</p><p>“Are you staying?” Tsuna asks. He’s since put on a pair of briefs and flung himself down onto his bed. His wet, brown hair falls into his eyes, usually so familiar but now estranged in a way Kyouya can’t quite explain. “I promise I don’t need a babysitter.”</p><p>“That’s well and good,” Kyouya says carefully, “but I’d feel better if I stuck around until my boss comes back.”</p><p>Tsuna sighs, grabbing one of his pillows and hugging it to his chest. “You Guardians,” he grumbles, though he doesn’t sound particularly upset. “So protective.”</p><p>“You know how it is,” Kyouya says, echoing Tsuna’s words from earlier. He gets the feeling that this version of Tsuna – or whoever or whatever he’s made up of – is less volatile than others, more willing to be spoken to casually. He’s proven correct when Tsuna laughs, pushing himself up into a sitting position.</p><p>“My Guardians were more easygoing,” Tsuna says. “<em>Especially </em>my Cloud, Lissa. She’d run circles around you, Hibari-kun.”</p><p>That’s a name Kyouya has heard before. Lissa was a Guardian of the eighth boss, Daniela. That explains why Tsuna is more friendly than usual, although in Kyouya’s previous dealings with the Eighth’s influence, Tsuna acted a bit more reserved.</p><p>Tsuna pats the bed beside him, drawing Kyouya’s attention. “Come sit,” he says. “We may be here a while.”</p><p>Kyouya goes because he has no other option. Tsuna is most volatile in these moments, and the last thing he wants is to inadvertently cause a personality shift. He climbs up onto the bed as Tsuna scoots over to make room. The spot he’d previously occupied is a little damp, but Kyouya ignores it as he lays back against the plush pillows, crossing his arms over his chest and his legs at the ankles.</p><p>“Wow, you look <em>so</em> comfortable,” Tsuna comments, still hugging the pillow as he shifts onto his side to face Kyouya. “C’mon, you wouldn’t be the first Guardian to tumble into bed with a Sky.”</p><p>Kyouya rolls his before he can help himself, though Tsuna only laughs. “I won’t have my boss catching me in a compromising situation when he comes back.”</p><p>“I don’t think Tsunayoshi-kun would mind,” says Tsuna. “He – ”</p><p>“Don’t.” Kyouya tries to keep the sharpness out of his voice but is unsure if he succeeds. It’s probably useless anyway with Hyper Intuition, but he doesn’t quite care in this instance. “Don’t speak for or about him when he isn’t here.”</p><p>Tsuna whistles lowly. “Touchy. I think I like Yamamoto-kun better.”</p><p>Kyouya says nothing to that. It’s not as if preference matters in this situation. Kyouya is the only one willing to stay with Tsuna when he’s like this. The others have tried to varying degrees, but it always ends in tears and frustration.</p><p>It’s hard for them to see Tsuna in this state, Kyouya knows. There’s absolutely nothing they can do for him. If Dr. Shamal and the others they’ve consulted are to be believed, nothing short of death will free Tsuna from this curse.</p><p>Once, Yamamoto even tried to attack the Nono for not warning them that this was a possibility. He hadn’t posed much of a threat to Timoteo despite his age, but it had still caused a rift between the old and new generations of Vongola. Timoteo himself hadn’t taken the attack too personally. He’d offered what little information he knew when Kyouya and Gokudera probed further, but they’d barely learned anything.</p><p>They’d already known from Tsuna’s Intuition that the Sky Ring was the source. Timoteo had only filled in the gaps, explaining that each Vongola Boss left an impression of their Flame on the Ring. It had never manifested in quite this way for Timoteo, but he’d lived with the whisperings of the previous Vongola Bosses from the first moment he’d adorned the Sky Ring.</p><p>Their working theory is that it all comes down to Tsuna himself, his empathetic nature and strong connection to the blood of the Primo. Although the previous Bosses don’t live on within the Sky Ring, their residual Flames are enough to warp Tsuna’s perception of himself when his own Flame becomes unstable.</p><p>It’s not as if Tsuna is actually <em>gone. </em>Kyouya just thinks of him as lost, and for years now, Kyouya has stayed close by while Tsuna fights his way back to himself.</p><p>“What would you do?” Tsuna asks suddenly, and he’s twisting the Sky Ring around his finger when Kyouya glances at him. “If he stayed like this? If he never came back?”</p><p>“That’s not possible,” Kyouya says. “It’s pointless to even ask.”</p><p>The look Tsuna gives him is unimpressed. “Indulge me, then, while I’m still here. I’m <em>bored, </em>Hibari-kun, and it’s not like you’ll let me leave this room.”</p><p>Kyouya tips his head back against the pillows, staring up at the chandelier above the bed as he says, “I’d leave, I suppose. I agreed to be Sawada Tsunayoshi’s Cloud Guardian, and I won’t work under anyone else.”</p><p>Tsuna makes a vague sound in the back of his throat. “I figured you’d say that. You seem like a man with conditions.”</p><p>“Then why did you ask?”</p><p>“’Dunno, just wanted to see if you’d lie to me.”</p><p>Kyouya scowls at the ceiling. He hates the mind games the previous Bosses try to play with him. They’re nothing at all like Tsuna, or even the Primo, who is Kyouya’s preferred influence. He seems the most sympathetic to their plight and does his best to be unobtrusive until Tsuna returns.</p><p>Tsuna takes in a deep breath, and Kyouya waits, steeled for another probing question, but then he hears a soft, “Kyouya?”</p><p>Kyouya is instantly alert, just beginning to push himself up when a hand reaches out and grabs his wrist. Tsuna’s fingers are ice cold, but Kyouya can still feel the Sky Ring’s impression against his own pulse. “Don’t go.” Kyouya loses his breath when he sees that Tsuna’s eyes are right again. They’re slightly unfocused, trembling in their sockets along with the rest of Tsuna’s body, but still so achingly familiar once more. “I’m not – I don’t – ”</p><p>“I’m not going anywhere,” Kyouya assures him, shifting onto his knees so he has more mobility to reach for the end of the bed and the navy, furred blanket that’s folded there. “I’m here.”</p><p>Tsuna trembles as Kyouya kicks off his loafers before pulling the blanket up and around the both of them. He lets go of Kyouya’s wrist when prompted and is completely pliant as Kyouya wraps himself around him, petting Tsuna’s damp hair and encouraging him to press his face into Kyouya’s throat.</p><p>“I’m here,” Kyouya says again, and Tsuna whimpers, faint and helpless. It’s one of the worst things Kyouya’s ever heard. “Just relax. Everything’s fine.”</p><p>It takes Tsuna a while to come down. In the beginning, he’d switch back and forth like a snap of a finger, but as the years went by, it took him longer and longer to shake off the nausea and confusion that came with his episodes. Kyouya has tried various methods to help Tsuna come down faster, but nothing works quite as well as wrangling Tsuna into the warmth of his own bed and keeping him close.</p><p>Tsuna has said before that the sound of Kyouya’s voice helps him sort through things, so Kyouya makes sure to talk to him, even if Tsuna can’t quite respond. He talks about everything and nothing: the plans they’ve been drawing up for Lambo’s junior high graduation party; Nana’s upcoming visit for the summer; Sasagawa and Yamamoto’s ongoing debate over whether Garyu or Ziro and Koziro was the superior Box Weapon.</p><p>Kyouya only goes quiet when Tsuna lifts his head out of his neck. “Is Takeshi okay?” he asks, and that, more than anything, tells Kyouya that Tsuna is completely back. “I didn’t mean to let things get this bad, I – ”</p><p>“Don’t worry about it,” Kyouya interrupts, and Tsuna goes quiet without a fuss. Usually, he’s every bit the mafia boss people expect him to be, but when it’s just the two of them like this, Tsuna is softer, more malleable. “Takeshi is fine. I sent him to clean up after he came to tell me you’d regressed.”</p><p>Tsuna sighs, still shaky and pale despite the strength returning to his voice. “I <em>hate </em>when it happens when I’m out with him. I don’t want him to worry so much about me.”</p><p>“He’ll worry anyway,” Kyouya points out. “Just focus on yourself.”</p><p>Kyouya has said it dozens of thousands of times, but it’d be a marvel if Tsuna actually listened. True to his nature, Tsuna emits an indignant huff before dropping his face into Kyouya’s neck again, pressing closer into the warmth his body provides. “The mission,” he mumbles, and Kyouya can feel the brush of his lips as he speaks. “Remind me to tell you about it.”</p><p>“After you’ve slept,” says Kyouya. He slides his hand down to Tsuna’s neck, cupping his clammy flesh and stroking his thumb across the other man’s jaw. “I’ll stay with you.”</p><p>Tsuna hums, a vague and quiet sound as he burrows deeper into Kyouya. It isn’t long after that his quick, shallow breathing finally evens out, and Kyouya feels the last bits of residual tension leaving his own body.</p><p>“Rokudo,” Kyouya murmurs into Tsuna’s hair, “let Takeshi know that Tsuna is back and resting.”</p><p><em>“Of course,” </em>Rokudo says, and then Kyouya is left alone with only his thoughts and the sound of Tsuna’s breathing.</p><p>For all the reasons Kyouya feels as if mafia life suits him, there will always be certain things that make him feel uncentered. These are the things Kyouya can’t plan for, the situations and repercussions that rear their ugly heads before he can think of an adequate solution.</p><p>Kyouya has never been able to plan for Tsuna. There are too many variables, too many things he just doesn’t understand, and it unsettles him. These episodes unmoor Tsuna and his hard won standing atop the world’s underground, but somehow Kyouya is the one who always ends up feeling bereft.</p><p>This is the <em>only </em>time Kyouya feels even an ounce of the confusion and uncertainty Tsuna must when he’s slammed back into his own conscience. He feels none of the warmth his body is forcing upon Tsuna. All he knows is that Tsuna is back. Weakened, but here.</p><p>And Kyouya won’t ever leave him, even when he’s inevitably back on his feet.</p>
  </div><div class="fff_chapter_notes fff_foot_notes"><b>Author's Note:</b><blockquote class="userstuff"><p>title inspired by "Louder than bombs" by BTS, had that shit on repeat while writing for Ultimate Sad</p></blockquote></div></div>
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